CEP SE Version 1.1 user- Shall I go to 2+/Audition?

[Bambi Busboom]

Mates,

I've been using Cool Edit 1.1 for quite awhile at home in a very basic way mainly recording acoustic intruments in two channels on to HD and CD-R. It goes thusly:

Piano/harpsichord, cello, viola da gamba, or clavichord, or broadcast voice tracks > 2- Oktava MC012 > Peavey VMP-2 > Audiowerk 2 > Pentium 750 256 RAM, 30 and 40GB HDs > CD-R

Most of this are practice sessions, but I'm using this to try and get a decent sound perhaps up to a kind of demo level. I very ocassionally use an inexpensive Yamaha MIDI that I record acoustically for organ parts. I have thought I should learn how to so multiple tracks in advance of needing to do it.

As the price of the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 has dropped substantially and this has enough features for me, I'll have the new card in a couple of days. I've thought of using this occasion for new microphones and software too.

Actually, the ol' CoolEdit Pro SE I have works just fine for me, but are there reasons that I should want to buy a later version -2+ or Audition? Reliability and straightforward configuration are positives!

Does my old 1.1 version qualify me typically for upgrade rather a full version? I actually don't remember the source of this- it may have come with a now gone Lexicon soundcard..

Thanks!

Cheers,

Bambi B

 

[lpdeluxe]

Adobe is the place to go for information as to what qualifies for upgrades: here's their site: http://store.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catAudition

As to whether you "need" it or not, I find myself using a lot of the features available. I started out with Cool Edit LE (also from a Lexicon sound card, a Core 2), went to Cool Edit Pro 1.2, then 2.0, 2.1, and now Adobe Audition 1.5. Each upgrade has come at a cost, because the original Cool Edit was designed to run on relatively slow computers and I don't think that is any longer true. I read a lot of posts from people who have older machines with problems. I ran CEP 2.1 on a Win98SE with P3 and 256RAM, and it wasn't up to the task. Currently I have P4/XP/512, and it runs like a train. This last week I packed up the racks & the computer & mics and recorded 10 hours a day for 4 days down in Austin to get a project done, and I actually forgot I was using a computer. No crashes, no freezes, no glitches, no lost takes...which were rampant with the earlier computer when my track count got into the double digits.

That said, the real issues are, will you use the features? I find myself using the noise reduction a lot, the EQ a tiny bit and the reverbs not at all...but there are a lot of "error-correcting" features that have saved my nether parts, such as automatic saves when crashing, and extensive cut-and-paste that has allowed me to salvage arrangements without re-recording. By the way, I record mostly acoustic: guitar, bass, harmonica, string-band instruments (and native American flute, once last week). I get a lot of compliments about the realism of the sound (thank you, Audio-Technica, RODE, and Shure) but I THINK I could do much of what I'm doing now with the earlier versions. Since my track count gets up around 20 sometimes, that might be a limiting factor. Note that there are a lot of people who use 1.2 or older versions who are totally happy with them. As I said, Cool Edit was deliberately designed to run on machines that were marginal for other audio apps.

 

[ozpeter]

Very hard to say given the varying needs of each user.

I don't think you will qualify for an upgrade deal.... you'd have to check with Adobe direct.

But I'd strongly suggest downloading the trial version and seeing whether what it offers is worth, to you, the cost. Personally I couldn't work without it, but that's just me!

 

[Change of POETS]

Agreed with OZ. I truly enjoy Audition, and I'm proficient enough with it to put out professional mixes.